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Sunday's Key Battles: Arsenal v Stoke City

The curtain falls on another Premier League season on Sunday but not before the Gunners host Stoke at Emirates Stadium. This season Arsenal.com will be identifying the key battles for the game. We will bring you all the statistics and information a fan could need so swot up now and come Sunday you will be impressing anyone who will listen with your new-found knowledg

Player Profile - Robin van Persie

Abdoulaye Faye

Robin van Persie v Abdoulaye FayeBefore Stoke’s final home game of the season last Saturday, Abdoulaye Faye was named the Fans’ and Players’ Player of the Season on the Britannia Stadium turf. He could well lock horns with Arsenal top goalscorer Robin van Persie, looking for his first home Premier League goal of 2009. The Dutchman has nine goals and nine assists this term but his opponent’s defensive stats make impressive reading. The massive Senegalese has 28 blocks, 59 clearances, 23 interceptions and 22 tackles in his 35 outings.

VAN PERSIE V FAYE

Robin van Persie

Abdoulaye Faye

Appearances

27

35

Minutes played

2123

3097

Assists

9

0

Blocks made

1

28

Clearances

4

59

Unsuccessful dribbles

6

12

Successful dribbles

8

22

Goals scored

9

3

Interceptions made

0

23

Complete passes

98

142

Incomplete passes

54

100

Shots off target

48

7

Shots on target

49

9

Tackles lost

14

5

Tackles won

4

22

Player Profile - Alexandre Song

Ricardo Fuller

Alex Song v Ricardo FullerAlex turned in one of his performances of the season at centre-half last Saturday in Arsenal’s goalless draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford. His manager described the move as an ‘experiment’ and he may persevere with it against Stoke at the weekend. If he does, Song could face Stoke’s top goalscorer Ricardo Fuller. The Jamaican international has bagged 10 goals and two assists in his 33 appearances this term as Stoke have quite comfortably avoided the drop. Song has a goal of his own this season and an impressive 81 per cent tackling success rate.

SONG V FULLER

Alex Song

Ricardo Fuller

Appearances

30

33

Minutes played

1971

2299

Assists

1

2

Unsuccessful crosses

2

9

Successful crosses

1

1

Unsuccessful dribbles

3

19

Successful dribbles

6

11

Goals scored

1

10

Complete passes

106

99

Incomplete passes

49

79

Shots off target

10

31

Shots on target

6

23

Tackles lost

3

8

Tackles won

13

2

Player Profile - Bacary Sagna

Matthew Etherington

Bacary Sagna v Matthew EtheringtonSome of Stoke’s success this season must be attributed to Tony Pulis’ shrewd January signings. One of those was Matthew Etherington who made the switch from West Ham during the transfer window. The Cornwall-born winger has racked up three assists and a healthy 67 per cent dribbling success rate since his move to the Potteries. On Sunday, he will probably come face to face with Arsenal right back Bacary Sagna. The Frenchman trumps his opponent in the passing stats and his 31 won tackles this season is by far the best record in the Arsenal squad.

SAGNA V ETHERINGTON

Bacary Sagna

Matthew Etherington

Appearances

34

14

Minutes played

2880

1086

Assists

1

3

Clearances

42

0

Unsuccessful crosses

47

16

Successful crosses

5

4

Unsuccessful dribbles

5

6

Successful dribbles

10

12

Complete passes

158

62

Incomplete passes

82

43

Shots off target

6

4

Shots on target

6

2

Tackles lost

13

3

Tackles won

31

7

Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source21 May 2009

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